Friday, 4 May 2012

Accumulation and dispersal.

I do wonder sometimes if there will ever be an end to the
accumulated junk.

I made a couple of purchases recently – a meditation cushion
in an effort (haha) to improve my prayer life (God raises a cynical eyebrow) and
a large mug (yes, that one up there) for imbibing quantities of herb tea that are going to do me so much
good you won’t recognise me. So some
things had to go.

I’d also got a beautiful new top for the “summer”, and in
exchange parted with a pair of earrings I thought rather tacky and a pack of
cards for playing Charades that had been in my drawer through three Christmases
and are obviously never in fact going to be used. And I
bought another pair of Vivo Barefoots at half-price, parting in exchange with
some trainers that hurt my toenails and a pair of shoes that is lovely but in
holes.

I wondered what I might part with in exchange for the
cushion and the mug because I felt that the depths of the junk slurry had
surely been plumbed by this time, but no.
On investigation in my General Stuff drawer I picked out these.

I have been cherishing them carefully because they are
Obviously Useful. The green thing is an
end of clothes line that I thought might come in handy as an extra thing to air
washing on (it hasn’t). The tin of mints
I bought because I thought the tin looked so groovy. The plastic fork was picked up along with
some food while I was travelling. I must
have eaten it (the food not the fork) with my fingers in my usual primitive and uncivilised
manner. And the wires – I mean, what the
heck are they? The ones with yellow bits
on must have come with my Bose because there’s a Bose leaflet still in the bag
with them. I have a vague idea . . . no
. . . I haven’t: I don’t know what the other ones are at all. Or what they came with or what function they serve. So obviously whatever they are, I’m using the
thing they came with quite happily without that cunning extra function. I have checked that I still have the
recharging thing for my whizzy toothbrush and the one for my Kindle, because it
would be jolly annoying to throw those out in a fit of enthusiasm. Nope.
I have no idea what these are.

A while ago Maria suggested I might have a Quarantine Drawer
for things I might regret chucking out, so I did this. I put a big plastic box in the attic for
quarantining things, and these can go in it Just In Case. If no Vital Function comes to light, out they
go.

Lest you are feeling anxious about the attic – fret not. This is not some far-off zone where things
can moulder forgotten and undetected to ruin the lives of future
generations. Bear in mind, the Badger
and I do actually live in the attic. So our “attic” is the Garret’s cupboard space
in the eaves. You can see the door in
the pics I posted last time – it’s that square brown bit next to the
bookshelves – the one we keep meaning to get round to painting.

However, surely, by now I must be getting to the end of
pointless paraphernalia. Or perhaps
today’s vital unmissable bargain is tomorrow’s useless junk? We’ll see how I get on with that meditation
cushion . . .

Interesting. I think I have not got the clothing of my lower half quite right. I wear trousers most of the time now (in England pants are briefs!!) but am never quite happy with this - feel distinctly undressed. I didn't like all the ironing that went with skirts. I have some jersey ones now that I like but they are not warm enough for winter. I am dreaming about some kind of garment to wear over trousers . . . something like a scapular . . . I wore salwar kameez for a while - and would wear them happily always if only they would make them in jersey fabric; I only really wear cotton jersey or fleece now - non-iron and comfy.

I do admire your care and loving attention to the beauty or usefulness of these things. Anna and I are such hoarders. We have a box for everything but nowhere for the boxes.

Last year I lost my bag on a train. Laptop and all my valuables went trundling into the distance. I don't think I realised until then how much 'presence' possessions have: http://radref.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/lies-damned-lies-and-possessions.html

Ah yes, cords.....I have so many spare computer & phone cords that I am terrified of chucking because ~What if it was important?! I am going to have to bite the bullet & hope I don't chuck something essential....

I think that's one of the roads to simplicity - in the end I suspect people are always better led by positives than negatives. So that the longing for and impulse towards space and freedom is a stronger incentive than the sense of being overwhelmed by stuff or ashamed of clutter. x

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An Inspiration

‘Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’

(Deuteronomy 2.27-28, 29b NIV UK)

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